KUCHING: The conversion of Sri Aman Rest House into the Sri Aman Museum, for which restoration and upgrading work is currently ongoing, is expected to be completed next year.
It is hoped that it can be completed as scheduled to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Peace Declaration of Sri Aman – the peace treaty signed between the Sarawak government and the communists.
Tourism, Creative, Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the Sri Aman Rest House was the location when the peace treaty was signed 50 years ago.
“For that reason, my ministry and the Sarawak Museum Department are doing our best to ensure the rest house is being restored and work will be completed before its launching next year,” he said during the closing of the 19th edition of the Pesta Benak or Tidal Bore Festival in Simanggang on Sunday.
He also said the Sri Aman Museum, among others, will display the historical and bittersweet events that took place in Sri Aman.
“By doing so, this will allow the younger generation to better understand the history of Sri Aman because many of the young ones do not know how the Simanggang Town was formed,” he said.
Abdul Karim stressed it was important for the younger generation, not only those from Sarawak but visitors to the state to also know about the history of Sri Aman.
“It is not easy to remove communists from an area. It is a philosophy. That is one thing which sometimes can be difficult to make an agreement with those who are very attached to a philosophy that is communism,” he said.
Apart from that, he also hopes for Simanggang Town to continue to develop further and hence not only attract visitors from within the state but also those from elsewhere.
The peace treaty signed between the Sarawak government and the communists on Oct 21, 1973 marked the end of the communist insurgency in the state at that time.
As a result of the peace treaty, Simanggang, the town’s original name, was changed to Sri Aman.
The agreement was inked by the then Chief Minister Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub and the leader of the Sarawak Communist Organisation, Bong Kee Chok.
In October 2019, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg announced that Sri Aman Town is to revert to its original name – Simanggang, while the name of the division remains Sri Aman Division – based on the request of the people in the area.
